At the March 9 meeting of the Natomas Unified School District, the district voted to proceed with internet upgrade projects at two different school sites, plus purchases of new network hardware and software. 

In total, the improvements will cost the district $235,334.01, after discounts enabled by a Federal Communications Commission program. 

One of the projects is a new 2,250-foot fiber optic cable at Inderkum High School. The upgrade is slated to cost the district $3,608 after the discount, and has a scheduled completion date of Aug. 1, 2023.

The other project is for dark fiber cables, cables which are not immediately operational, at Heredia-Arriaga School, a new Spanish-English dual immersion elementary school opening in the fall 2023. The project is slated to cost $26,702.40. 

The network and software project will upgrade firewall services at a cost of $44,180.02 to the district. The project will also include wireless LAN controller upgrades and licenses at a cost of $97,510.48 to the district. Upgrades to Cisco products will cost the district a total of $69,66.25.

The cost to the district is a total of $205,023.61, including a discount received from the Universal Service Administrative Company.